Unless you are hard pressed for time, making samosa pastry from scratch is well worth the effort and time. Homemade samosa pastry tastes much better than any store bought variety. Apart from the taste, you have full control over the texture of the pastry, the oil and salt content, and the type of flour. In addition, there are no food additives and preservatives.

Whenever we make samosa pastry, we usually prepare a large batch. We use some and freeze the remainder for later use. We defrost them and they are ready to use by the time the filling is ready.

This recipe is different from many other recipes for homemade samosa pastry in one important aspect. You get very pretty samosas unlike the ones made with soft, flabby pastry that is a challenge to hold and work with. Granted, the floppy pastry is easier to make, but we believe it should be not used for making triangular samosas. We hope to post a recipe that uses the soft pastry for a shape that will make the samosas look much nicer.

1. Cut the dough into 6 pieces. 2. Shape them into discs. 3. Roll each disc to an 8″ (20 cm) diameter circle. 4. Layer the circles, smearing a little oil and flour between the layers. 5. Press the edges together. 6. Roll out the dough into a 12″ (30 cm) diameter circle.

1. Place the dough on a pan set on mediam heat. 2. Cook for 2 minutes. 3. When the colour changes, flip and cook 1 more minute. 4. Cut in half. 5. Cut again in half to get 4 equal pieces. 6. Cover to prevent from drying.

1. Hold the pastry with the right angle towards you. 2. Fold one edge as shown. 3. Apply flour glue to the edge. 4. Lift the other corner. 5. Fold as shown. 6. The folded pastry. 7. Fill with the filling. 8. Tuck in the near side and apply flour glue. 9. Fold to get a perfect triangle.

I loveeeee Somali food!!! Your website has helped me a lot especially the Sambusa pastry my Mum would spend ages making these whilst fasting in Ramadan but your method is so much easier so I cant wait to relieve her!!! I also cant wait to make her Qamdi because sambusa just doesn’t taste as good without it!! I cant wait to see your other recipes you should see my face when you uploaded a new video.

Anyways, May Allah reward you with good!!! I really mean that ❤
lots&lots&lots of love from a 17year old Arab

Thank you so much for all the great recipes. I have one question:
Whenever the recipe calls for “All purpose Flour”, can you tell me if it will make a difference, if I use “Bleached All purpose Flour” or “Unbleached All purpose Flour”? Which one is better?

Wa-alaikum as-salaam,
Bleached all-purpose flour is treated with chemicals to whiten it. This process also reduces the gluten in the flour. Unbleached all-purpose flour is also bleached but the bleaching occurs naturally over a longer period of time. Since unbleached flour has more gluten, it is better for breads, pizza, or any recipe where you want a slightly more chewy result. We mainly use bleached all-purpose flour for most purposes, and we use cake flour when the recipe calls for it.

When I fry my samosas the wrap is crunchy and then it softens up after a while. I use the homemade pastry, just like you do. I have tried to make the dough really tough to reduce the moisture content or increase the amount of time on the pan before I cut it up, but I haven’t been successful in achieving the crunchy crust that last longer than ten or 15 minutes. From the picture yours looks really crunchy. Is there something I am doing wrong?

Samosas should be fried using medium heat. If you fry them in very hot oil they will cook faster and the pastry won’t have enough time to become crunchy. Another important thing is the filling, which must not be hot. If you are using ground beef and onions, don’t add the onions while the meat is hot. If you want crunchy samosas, don’t add oil to the dough. Use very little oil for layering.

Looove your site, anytime someone asks me how I made my Somali food, I recommend them to your blog, it makes it easier for me to not waste time explaining, you know, especially since I still use a-la grandma style, a little bit of this and a little of that

Thank you very much for taking the time to comment and letting us know how much you liked the website. We understand what you mean by a-la grandma style. We had to translate some traditional recipes from a little bit of this and that to precise measurements.

Asc a&l, I tried alot of your recipes and they turned out wonders except I was afraid to try the sambusa foil as it never turned out right for me before but today I ran out of the ready ones so I tried to make it and it turned out really great so thank you so much. P.s I really really like your qamdi and the Somali cookies they are so yummy! You made Ramadan and eid easy for me this year so thanks alot!

Hi, I spent à lot time today trying to make the pastry for samosas. I’m lost. What happens once you heat the 30 cm piece of pastry. Are you then able to unpeal the different layers? Mine was a thick block. I ended up with chapatis style pastry which was actually very good. How do you get 24 samosas out of one 30 cm circle?
Obviously not from a samosa making tradition, but I would appreciate your enlightening my ignorance.
I look forward to trying other of your recipes as they sound wonderful.
Bye

It is 6 layers of 30 cm circles. Please watch the video so you can see how it is done. You will need to smear 1/2 a teaspoon of oil and a little flour between each layer. This way you will be able to peel the layers easily after heating the dough, two minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you still have a problem.

Walaal marka hore, salaan kashka iyo laabta ka soo go’dey iga gudoon, marka labad na Jazaak allah khayr for your good deed and may allah reward you Janat al furduus for this beautifull, exciting and magnificent site . I would like to know if ” All purpose flour ” is not available in my country would self raising flour or plain flour work with Sabuusa pastry and other pastry recepies??? and which one is better than the other ,, Jazaak allah khayr again

My family loves somossa’s of any kind and your website is one of the great ones. I’ve started trying different flours and seasonings in the pastries, and one of the kids asked a question and I don’t know the answer as it has never occurred to me. So if you could educate me just a little further I would appreciate it. So our question is, is there a proper thickness to the pastry? I’ve always just tried to make it as thin as possible, but on asking a few friends that make them it almost seams as its to every ones own personal taste. Again thanks for any info and for the great site.

Thank you very much for the great comment. As a general rule samosa pastry should not be rolled too thin or too thick. That is not much help, is it? The proper thickness depends of the type of pastry that you are using. If the pastry is the buttery, flaky type (similar to puff pastry) then it is much better to have a thick pastry for the samosas. If the pastry is the hard type then it should be rolled out thin. The samosas will become crunchy. For the thin pastry, care should be taken that the filling not be oily or wet. We hope that helps.

Hi, I love your pastry recipe but it never works for me I tried it so many times but every time I try to peel the pastry apart it ether splits or tears can you please tell me after you remove it from the pan and when you cut it into 4 triangles do you have to cover it and wait for it to go cold and then peel it?? And is all purpose flour called plain flour?? Please give me some tips for making a good pastry!!

Thank you very much for your comment. There are many factors to consider.
1) If enough oil is not used to smear, or not sprinkled with enough flour.
2) If you roll to a diameter more than 12″ (30 cm), it means that you have rolled them too thin and they will be impossible to separate.
3) Use medium heat and make sure they are well cooked. You won’t be able to peel if they are not fully cooked.
4) You need to cover them after cooking to keep them moist.
5) They peel easily while they are warm.

All purpose flour is known as plain flour in the UK. Let us know if you still have questions.

WOW…..I am so impressed and love your recipes thank you! Most of all I am impressed by your diligent replies you post about queries……queries just like mine! I am working with your samosa pastry recipe rite now….it seems fabulous but difficult so far…..I just persevere! What I like most is the pastry method….different from the Asian / Indian technique….and making pastry chips too!!! Delicious! I have seen multi-layered samoosa crust…..this is what I am trying to do…I will tell you when it works!
Thank you lovely lady for your site and support!…God Bless…..Grant (yes….a Caucasian man living in South Africa with a Muslim girl!! if I may!?)

Hi, I was looking for how to make aloo samosa for my little ones birthday and came across your video on samosa pastry and it is very interesting. I will try them soon. I have a quick question I have lots of guest so can I make the samosa ahead of time and freez them without frying till the day I need them and if so for how long can I freeze filled samosas.

Thank you very much for your comment. You would need 17.5 kg flour, 1/3 cup salt, 1 litre plus 875 mL oil, 11 litres water and about 1 litre oil for layering. You will also need 5 tablespoons flour for layering. Use 1/2 teaspoon between each layer. Congratulations in advance.

I have made samosa pastry with this recipe about a dozen times now. Each time I am asked, where did you get the pastry. I am never tired of looking at the faces of my friends and family when I reply, “I made it”. Many don’t believe me. Thank you so much for this. My daughter is allergic to nuts. It makes such a difference to be able to make food at home she can enjoy. Again, thank you.

Thank you so much for your AMAZING comment. We are absolutely delighted that the website was of help to you. We are also glad that your daughter can enjoy the samosas with you now. God bless you and your family.

I’ve been following your recipes for a long time now and I have really improved in my cooking! Thank you very much!

I have one thing to ask, its not been possible for me to follow this recipe and I have failed a few times. Is there a way of making the same pastry without layering it? I cant get them unstuck and it becomes a big bulky useless pastry, maybe I’m doing something wrong.

I know that you reply to all messages (another reason why I love your site), so thanks again in advance!

Wa’alaikum Assalam Warahmatullahi Wararakatuh.
If you roll out too thin it will turn into one piece of dough as the oil and flour between the layers will be absorbed into the dough. Here is a link for our new Samosa dough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK6DzQbAsgQ. We hope this will be easy for you. The corn starch won’t be absorbed into the dough, but you still shouldn’t roll out too thin.

I really love your method. I made it first time today, it was dome sort of failure or success . It worked but i realized i didnt hv a 12″ pan to cook it. N i rolled the dough half inch too big. Also i felt that the end result, the pastry was too thin. And i wasted a lot of dough because the sides couldnt cook ( pan was too small). Also some of it i couldnt take it easily apart and i tore it…etc it was a mess. But your method and recipe was great though. Just that i am not skilful enough. So i will try it again until i succeed. Thanks very much

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About (Annaga)Qui Sommes Nous نبذة عنا

We are a husband and wife team and we live in Canada. In a world full of food complications, we make cooking very simple. Our recipe videos will make your cooking easy, relaxed and enjoyable. We bring you the foods we love from Somalia and from around the world.